Page 213 of The Dark Mirror

‘Jaxon,’ I said. ‘What was in the box Colin left me?’

‘Something that I do not understand. If you consent to our partnership, I will send it to your French allies. Then you can inspect it upon your return to Scion.’

‘No. Give it to Arcturus,’ I said. ‘If I agree to any of this.’

‘Of course.’

I walked down the hill, leaving him to gaze at the city.

Isaure Ducos waited beside the entrance to the Forum. Her car was parked nearby.

‘The Colosseum appears to have suffered extensive damage. They think it will take a decade to repair,’ she said. ‘But I also hear you’re the reason it wasn’t destroyed altogether, so perhaps we can call that personal growth.’ She gave me a nod. ‘Good to see you alive. May we speak?’

The Chiostro del Bramante was full of Domino associates, called to Rome to help evaluate the situation. Cardinal Rocha had already been identified as a member of Grapevine, along with an archaeologist named Giovanna Amato. Both had aided the Sargas in concealing the Rephs’ bodies around the city, and both had been killed by the Buzzers.

The Pope had survived. No comment, apparently.

Ducos showed me inside. A tall man in a tailored navy suit awaited us. He was about the same age as Spinner, with dark brown skin and eyes, and hair shaved almost to his scalp.

‘Flora.’ He extended a manicured hand, which I shook. ‘Match. I’m a member of Command. We understand Italy owes you a debt. Have you recovered?’

‘Mostly,’ I said. ‘How can I help you, Match?’

‘First, I thought you might like to know that Jaxon Hall has given us the Stiletto Files, as we’ve dubbed the information harvested by Alice Taylan. For a price,’ he added, pursing his lips.

Of course. If Jaxon couldn’t have me in a cell, he was going to fill his pockets to the brim.

‘Veronika Norlenghi has volunteered to transport the files to the Yerebatan Institute for urgent analysis,’ Match went on. ‘Whatever Alice was able to discover in the Westminster Archon, we’ll know it soon.’

‘That’s good to know,’ I said. ‘I’m glad you got something out of it all.’

I said it with wholehearted honesty. Burnish had not died in vain.

‘We have a proposal for you. It relates to your outstanding contract with Domino.’ He motioned to the courtyard. ‘Will you hear it?’

‘Sure.’

‘Thank you.’

There were quite a few people in the courtyard. One of them sat with Ducos, drinking coffee. When he saw me, he stood.

‘Hello.’ I raised an eyebrow. ‘Steve Mun, wasn’t it?’

‘Yes.’ He looked embarrassed. ‘Good afternoon, Paige.’ I sat down beside Ducos, and he did the same. ‘I’d like to start by offering my sincere apologies for what happened in Wroclaw. We clearly made a bad impression, but we really did only mean to speak with you.’

‘Right. Except your man Spinner tried to forcibly extract me and my associate from Venice.’

‘The Bureau has been driven to desperate measures. We don’t have enough information about what we’re facing here,’ Mun said. ‘If it helps, I don’t work exclusively for Tinman. I’m a liaison from one of its sister networks in Asia, which specialises in counterintelligence against Scion. We’d still like to speak to your associate, if you’d—’

‘No.’

There was absolutely no way I was letting them near Arcturus.

‘Domino has already spoken to him,’ I went on. ‘If you’d like any information, you can ask Command for it. But I’d be interested to know what you want frommefirst, Steve.’

‘Of course.’ Mun reached for his briefcase. ‘We’ve been tracking a hostile network called Grapevine, affiliated with the Republic of Scion. Over the last few years, we’ve identified several individuals who we believe are involved, and who pose a significant danger,given their positions of influence, but we haven’t been able to prove their complicity.’

‘How do you think I can help with that?’

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